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In a conversation with University of Idaho Prof. Dr. Liang Lu, we discussed the merger between Amazon and Whole Foods. He had a very pragmatic appreciation and understanding why this union was the perfect symbiotic relationship. “(Lu) To us it’s more like a perfect marriage. We are now in a stage where supermarkets and e-commerce are converging. The supermarkets want to build their on line presence as well. That is why we see the Amazon/Whole Foods merger at the same time we see supermarkets like Walmart also wanting to do something online. (Sparks) I have heard one of the reasons that Amazon joined up with Whole Foods is that Whole Foods was failing. (Lu) We heard anecdotal evidence of that and it makes sense. Think about it, Whole Foods started with a niche market and transportation is costly. That’s why they need Amazon. Amazon has this amazing logistics network. So they are partners, not rivals. For online, you have to have a good reputation so that when consumers buy online, they want something of good quality.”